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“I knew Dhoni would announce his retirement upon reaching Chennai, so I was ready,” Raina says

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Aug-2020There were tears, hugs and eventually partying in the Chennai Super Kings camp after MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina announced, within minutes of each other, their retirement from international cricket on August 15.Explaining the sequence of Saturday’s events to , Raina said it was not a surprise – he said he knew Dhoni would announce his retirement that day.”I knew Dhoni would announce his retirement upon reaching Chennai, so I was ready,” Raina said. “I, Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar and Karn Sharma reached Ranchi on 14 August with the chartered plane, and picked up Mahi and Monu Singh.”After announcing our retirement, we hugged and cried a lot. I, Piyush, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav and Karn sat together after that, talked about our careers and our relationship. We partied during the night.”ALSO READ: The best of Suresh Raina in India coloursAll of them assembled in Chennai for a short preparatory camp ahead of IPL 2020 in UAE. While Dhoni and Raina haven’t played competitive cricket for over a year, speculation over Dhoni’s international future, in particular, started doing rounds again when the T20 World Cup scheduled for October-November was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.While Dhoni’s retirement announcement on Saturday may have taken many by surprise, Raina’s Instagram post where he said “I choose to join you (Dhoni) in this journey” didn’t directly imply retirement initially until he officially announced it on Sunday through social media and also communicated it to the BCCI.Raina’s words, however, made it clear the call was pre-planned. “We had already made up our minds to retire on Saturday (August 15),” he said. “Dhoni’s jersey number is 7 and mine is 3 – put it together and it makes 73. And on August 15, India completed 73 years of independence, so there couldn’t have been a better day.”Dhoni began his career on 23 December (2004) against Bangladesh in Chittagong, while I made my debut on 30 July (2005) against Sri Lanka. Both of us almost began together in international cricket, remained together at CSK, and so we now retired together and will continue to play in IPL together.”

Nafees Iqbal and Nazmul Islam have also recovered, three weeks after testing positive for the virus

Mohammad Isam14-Jul-2020Former Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza confirmed on Tuesday that he is Covid-19 negative. His wife Sumona Haque, however, continues to test positive.Mortaza, who is also a Member of Parliament representing the ruling Awami League party, was diagnosed with the virus three weeks ago, on June 20.”I heard the results of the test this evening, which is negative,” Mortaza wrote on his Facebook page. “I am thankful to everyone who prayed for me, was beside us and showed concern during this time. But my wife is still Covid-19 positive after two weeks of being diagnosed. She is doing well. Keep her in your prayers.”I got treatment at home. To those who are affected, stay positive. Keep faith in Allah and abide by the rules. Together we will keep fighting the virus.”Nafees Iqbal and Nazmul Islam, who also tested positive three weeks ago, have also recovered after undergoing treatment at home.

Pakistan’s formidable record in Tests at Abu Dhabi make them strong favourites in conditions that will test England’s resolve to the limit

Andrew McGlashan in Abu Dhabi11-Oct-2015A fast bowler making an impression on his first-class comeback from a five-year spot-fixing ban; an allrounder who is unable to bowl due to a suspect action; a player recalled after a five-year gap in his Test career; a 41-year-old captain who may be about to play his final Test series; an offspinner who has had his action reported after taking a five-for in his second ODI.That’s just the last few weeks of Pakistan cricket. They are rarely without some drama or controversy. Yet amid everything, their Test side has become a relative beacon of calmness and solidity. They start the series against England as strong favourites.The two teams are neck-and-neck in the Test rankings – just a point separates them in third and fourth – but Pakistan have their home-from-home advantage, the far superior spin attack and a batting line-up that knows how to gorge themselves on the surfaces in this region even though they have been weakened a little for the first Test by Azhar Ali’s foot problem.It is a mighty six months for England, still buoyed by an Ashes victory and a high-octane summer which helped move the game on from a horrid year-and-a-half. The challenge of South Africa, the No. 1 Test side, is on the horizon but it was more than just a sportsman maintaining a focus on the here-and-now when Ben Stokes said “UAE will be the most challenging one”.Stokes’ assessment wasn’t intended as a slight on South Africa. However, those will not be conditions in which England historically struggle. It is likely to be a style of cricket more akin to that which was witnessed during the Ashes; in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, however, an England cricket team is out of its comfort zone. The possibilities for self-improvement are vast, the obstacles similarly so.Factor in, too, that only once in the last decade – against Bangladesh in 2009-10 – have England won the opening Test of an away series. With Pakistan’s formidable record in Abu Dhabi, where they have not lost a Test, a draw would be a result to accept.Neither have Pakistan lost a Test series in the UAE since it became their surrogate home in 2010. There have been wins against Sri Lanka, England and Australia and they drew 1-1 with South Africa.Arguably, last year’s series against New Zealand was the one that got away. They were 1-0 up after a resounding 248-run win in Abu Dhabi but New Zealand, on the back of a free-wheeling double hundred from Brendon McCullum, levelled in Sharjah. Perhaps not for the first time this year, New Zealand will provide an template to follow even if replicating McCullum’s 202 off 188 balls is surely a step too far for either of England’s openers.Trevor Bayliss and Ben Stokes take a break during training•Getty Images

The New Zealand series is the only one of Pakistan’s last four that they have not won, away victories in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka continuing the upward trend. The series in Sri Lanka had a remarkable conclusion, Pakistan bouncing back from a seven-wicket defeat to chase down 378 – the sixth-highest chase of all time – to win by seven wickets despite being 13 for 2.It means a record of 10 Tests, six wins, two draws and two losses since last October – the joint-most victories in the period, alongside Australia, and fewer defeats than anyone bar Bangladesh and South Africa. That 12-month timeframe also coincides with the disappearance of Saeed Ajmal from the side, something which could have so easily debilitated the team.Yasir Shah’s emergence as a world-class legspinner has been a key reason why that hasn’t happened, but Misbah-ul-Haq has also been an impressive leader. He has scored three hundreds – all in Abu Dhabi where he averages a stratospheric 120 – but just as importantly he has cajoled the best out of his team more often than not.Against Australia last year, the platform was set in two prolific Tests in which the top order made nine hundreds between them, and that is before you factor in the wicketkeeper, Sarfraz Ahmed, who is averaging 50 at No. 7. Alongside Yasir v England’s spinners, Sarfraz v Jos Buttler is one head-to-head which starts significantly in Pakistan’s favour based on recent form.In many ways, the greater unpredictability of late has not been with Pakistan, but England. Throughout 2015, they have immediately followed strong victories – in Grenada, at Lord’s and in Cardiff – with insipid defeats, and though they broke that trend to regain the Ashes at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, they then resumed their erratic record with another heavy loss at The Oval.Still, in beating Australia, England have confounded expectations already this year and despite the Ashes success, England’s finest hour under Alastair Cook remains the 2012-13 series victory in India. Cook played a monumental role, as did the now-departed Kevin Pietersen, while it was England’s spin twins – Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar – who triumphed.What Cook would give for just one of those two spinners now (it adds to the sadness of Panesar’s situation as he tries, once again, to keep his career afloat) but he has to play with the hand he has been dealt. Cook’s batting, as a fine player of spin, will again be crucial – England can’t rely on Joe Root alone – and he will have to be at his most cunning as a captain.Moeen Ali bats in the nets ahead of the first Test•Getty Images

It will be fascinating to see how Pakistan play Moeen Ali. Should they work him around and test his endurance, or follow Australia’s lead in trying to attack him with an attitude bordering on the disrespectful (an approach which, ironically, often played into Moeen’s hands)? If Pakistan are able to stop Moeen bowling long spells Cook’s task could become forlorn.However, if England are to win, against the odds, it will be a miracle if their spinners play the decisive role. In 2012, James Anderson and Stuart Broad were England’s outstanding bowlers but that series took place in the UAE’s winter – January – as opposed to the oppressive late summer this time. They were also three years younger.The relative whipper-snappers, Mark Wood and Stokes, with their skiddy pace and ability to find reverse swing, will have to help make up for the lack of a proven matchwinning spinner while Steven Finn’s four wickets in the second warm-up match have provided a late conundrum, or a nice headache, for Cook and Trevor Bayliss.But the bowling won’t matter much without runs on the board. Since England last visited the UAE and contrived to lose after bowling Pakistan out for 99 in Dubai, the lowest first-innings total to win a Test in the region is Pakistan’s 341 against Sri Lanka in 2014, a game in which they chased down 302. In the last 12 months, in the same number of Tests, England’s top seven have scored nine hundreds against Pakistan’s 24.The recall of Shoaib Malik, with a Test average of 33, suggests the future may not be quite so rosy once Misbah and Younis Khan, who is on the verge of becoming Pakistan’s leading Test run-scorer, depart the scene. However, in the immediate future, it represents quite a gap for England to bridge.

Essex completed a comprehensive victory over Derbyshire in their Championship Division Two match by an innings and 188 runs to boost Chris Silverwood’s chances of landing the job as head coach

ECB/PA11-Sep-2015
ScorecardRavi Bopara picked up four second-innings wickets to hurry Derbyshire to defeat•Getty Images

Essex completed a comprehensive victory over Derbyshire in their Championship Division Two match by an innings and 188 runs to boost Chris Silverwood’s chances of landing the job as head coach.Silverwood has made it clear he wants to succeed Paul Grayson, who left the club two weeks ago, and this professional performance at Derby can only help his application. Essex were always likely to wrap up victory inside three days given the injuries to Tony Palladino and Shiv Thakor, which prevented them batting, and they sealed a maximum points haul 10 minutes before lunch.Ryan ten Doeschate was the catalyst, taking three wickets for one run in nine balls, as Derbyshire subsided tamely to 182 after skipper Wayne Madsen and nightwatchman Ben Cotton had kept Essex waiting 47 minutes for a breakthrough. But once Ravi Bopara had Cotton pouched at first slip, the end came swiftly leaving Silverwood to reflect on an impressive three days’ work.”It was a fantastic team performance,” the acting head coach said. “We are getting first-innings runs and the bowling attack stuck at it. We did exactly what we said we were going to do and we got the rewards.”I will be putting my hat in the ring and see what comes but first and foremost for me was to see us through the last games and do the best we can. We said next season starts now and we want to set the bar high.”Derbyshire’s season is in danger of disintegrating after they were largely outplayed in this game and Madsen admitted: “We are not trying to make any excuses, this is just not good enough and we’ve got to find solutions to compete in games and stay in them longer. It’s very disappointing the way that we played. There’s no consistency to our play, you need everyone chipping in over the course of the season and we haven’t had that this year.”Madsen and Cotton, who dug in for just short of an hour, at least showed some fight to raise hopes of Derbyshire taking the game deep into the day but Bopara tempted Cotton into a flash that was held above his head by Jesse Ryder.James Foster’s decision to turn to ten Doeschate at the Racecourse End proved inspired as the allrounder had Madsen caught behind down the leg side for 38 and then saw Scott Elstone edge a drive to second slip. When Tom Poynton played back and was lbw, Essex sensed they could finish it before lunch and Footitt’s sliced drive left Wes Durston high and dry with Palladino and Thakor remaining in the pavilion.Derbyshire now have one last chance to win a Championship home game this season when they play Leicestershire the week after next. “We’ve got to perform well in the last game of the season. We don’t just owe it to ourselves, we owe it to the supporters and everyone at the club,” Madsen said.

Pakistan were bowled out for 240 at the Gabba after Asad Shafiq’s 76 ensured a collapse was halted

The Report by Andrew McGlashan21-Nov-2019Australia finished the opening day of their Test summer in a strong position on one of their happiest hunting grounds, although for periods either side of a five-wicket surge in the afternoon they were made to work hard by Pakistan.Whether Pakistan’s 240 – boosted by Asad Shafiq’s 76 – will be enough to keep them in the contest remains to be seen and rests with their bowling attack. At nine for 75, they would have hoped for much better; at 5 for 94, they probably feared much worse, before Yasir Shah helped Shafiq add 84 for the seventh wicket. For Australia, the feelings might have been reversed.Mitchell Starc, on his return to the Test side, finished with 4 for 52 – cleaning up the tail as he can do so well – and was on a hat-trick late in the day when 16-year-old debutant Naseem Shah faced up to the first delivery of his career and somehow squeezed the ball to the leg side.Mitchell Starc finished with four wickets•Getty Images

After not quite getting their lengths right in the opening session, Australia’s three quicks were excellent after the interval as Pakistan’s impressive morning’s work unravelled. That was compounded by the controversial dismissal of Mohammad Rizwan, who edged behind off Pat Cummins only for replays to suggest Cummins had no part of his foot behind the line, but third umpire Michael Gough gave him the benefit of some very slim doubt.That left Pakistan 6 for 143 and still in danger of folding for under 200. However, Shafiq, who scored 137 at the ground on his previous visit, continued his excellent form from the warm-up matches where he made hundreds against Australia A and a Cricket Australia XI. He was eventually cleaned up by a beauty from Cummins with the new ball during Australia’s strong finish as they claimed 4 for 13 to end the innings.Captain Azhar Ali had won the toss and despite a green tinge to the surface, was not lulled into bowling. He and Shan Masood then played superbly during the opening session, happy to give the two hours to the bowlers unless there was a loose delivery to attack in a session that brought just five boundaries. The pair left well, helped by the back-of-a-length approach from the quicks, and a lunch score of none for 57 – by the standards of visiting teams at the Gabba – was a fine start. To show how tough a place it is for visiting sides, their final partnership of 75 was the highest for a visiting team in the first innings of a Test at the ground.Then, however, things started to change. In the sixth over after the break, Cummins, bowling around the wicket, squared up Masood to take his outside edge. Three balls later, Hazlewood drew a nick from Azhar which carried low to first slip where Joe Burns held on. All of a sudden, two new batsmen were at the crease. One of them was Haris Sohail, who struggled in the warm-up matches, and he did not last long when he flashed at Starc.The fear that Pakistan were about to completely lose their way increased when Babar Azam played a horridly wild drive at Hazlewood to provide another slip catch. After such a build-up for Azam – including runs in the T20Is and the Australia A match – it was a hugely deflating shot.Asad Shafiq acknowledges his half-century•Getty Images

Nathan Lyon then returned to the attack for his second spell and struck first ball when a hard-handed Iftikhar Ahmed inside-edged to short leg and it had the feel of a full-blown collapse that could decide the Test by tea on the opening day.That did not transpire, thanks to a mixture of punchy and pugnacious batting. Rizwan, playing just his second Test, counterpunched strongly either side of tea to score at better than a run-a-ball before the nick off Cummins prompted significant amount of slow-mo replays of the front foot. When it comes to calling no-balls on replays, the benefit of any doubt goes to the bowler. Cummins, though, may still have got lucky.There was no great expectation that Shafiq would now have much support, but Yasir proved otherwise in a stand that spanned 26 overs. The pair took advantage of a period where Tim Paine sat back a touch, using Lyon and Marnus Labuschagne ahead of the second new ball – Australia’s over rate was poor for much of the day, which can now lead to points deductions in the Test Championship.Shafiq’s fifty came from 99 balls and when the pair made it to the 80-over mark there was a chance that if they survived to the close Pakistan could yet eye 300. However, those hopes were dashed in the amount of time it took Starc to get loose as he speared a yorker through Yasir then found Shaheen Afridi’s edge first ball, although it needed a review which Paine, perhaps still haunted by his DRS errors in the Ashes, was reluctant to take.When Shafiq’s fine innings was ended by Cummins, it looked as though Australia would bat before the close, but Naseem – who generated one of the biggest cheers of the day when he on-drove Starc for his first boundary – and Imran Khan took the innings deep enough that when Naseem lobbed a short delivery in the air, Australia’s openers would not have to contemplate batting until the morning.

Scorchers cruise to victory and stay atop after Tye bags three wickets and Inglis and Bancroft control the chase

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jan-2023Nic Maddinson’s suspected serious knee injury has compounded Melbourne Renegades’ woes after they suffered a fourth consecutive BBL defeat. Renegades copped a five-wicket loss to the red-hot Perth Scorchers at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, continuing their slide after a positive 3-0 start to the season.Aaron Finch’s 65 off 48 had given the home side a sniff, steering them to 155 for 6 from their 20 overs, with Scorchers quick AJ Tye taking 3 for 32 to restrict the hosts. But Josh Inglis and Cameron Bancroft got Scorchers over the line in a controlled chase.Scorchers reached the target with two balls to spare, despite the efforts of Renegades quick Kane Richardson. It was Scorchers’ fourth straight win, firming up their spot at the top of the table.Maddinson’s slump continued when he was out for a first-ball duck, giving him a total of just three runs in his last five innings. His day got worse when he injured his knee while fielding during the second over of Scorchers’ chase, twisting his left leg as he turned to throw the ball.The 31-year-old immediately slumped to the turf and was assessed for several minutes before being driven off the field. Renegades are yet to determine the full extent of the injury, with Maddinson set to be sent for scans.Wicketkeeper Peter Handscomb also failed to see out the match, substituted off after 16 overs as he struggled with the effects of the soaring temperature.Andrew Tye was Player of the Match after taking 3 for 32•Getty Images

Import opener Faf du Plessis and Bancroft gave Scorchers a solid platform in their chase.Richardson was on a hat-trick when he removed Adam Lyth with the last ball of one over and du Plessis with the first of another, but he could not complete the feat.Bancroft was brilliantly run out by Will Sutherland, but Inglis took the reins and put his side on the brink of victory.There was late drama when Inglis unsuccessfully reviewed an lbw decision and was given out before Nick Hobson hit the winning run off Sutherland.Earlier, Finch became the second player to reach 3000 career runs in the BBL, joining all-time leading scorer Chris Lynn. Tye was the pick of Scorchers’ bowlers claiming the key wickets of Finch, Handscomb and Mackenzie Harvey. Jason Behrendorff also bowled superbly claiming 1 for 17 from four overs.

ESPNcricinfo’s updates from the 42nd game of IPL 2020

Debayan Sen24-Oct-2020